Rebates: A worthwhile venture
versus an exercise in futility
For some people including you,
it may appear that rebating or pursuing rebates on purchases is a worthwhile
venture. It may also prove to be an exercise in futility, which can lead to
frustration for you or others. A lot depends on how you handle your rebate
submission.
Awareness is the key!
Rebating is a growing trend,
both in our era and for the future generations to come.
Rebates are being offered more and
more frequently, as a marketing strategy by retailers, to increase business and
sales. Numerous items like computers, printers, cameras, cell phones, cd or
video players and other electronic items, can be purchased at remarkable
prices, if and when rebates are used. This is one way to obtain amazing
discounts on the prices for these items.
What you as the potential
consumer, need to be aware of, is the reality that rebating requires serious
effort on your part, in order to obtain the rebate money. To do this
successfully and avoid an exercise in futility, which can lead to a lot of
unnecessary frustration, you might consider some suggestions.
Each time a purchase is made by
you as a customer, it is important to ascertain exactly what is required in
order for you to obtain the rebate that is being offered. Be aware of what the
basic requirements are.
There will be at least three
criteria that must be met.
First, there is the rebate
form. The offer should provide an application form, more commonly called a rebate
form, that will have to be filled out by you or by someone at your place of
purchase.
There are store rebate forms
that do not require this. These will look like a long receipt and will state
that they are rebate forms. These, you just send in.
The rebate form that you have
to fill out may not be obtainable from the store or from your place of
purchase. Because of the wide use of computers in our era, this kind of rebate
form may have to be obtained from an online web site. You will be directed to the
address of the web site. Make certain that you know how to navigate the site in
order to find the appropriate form. Then print it and fill it out. Some rebate
forms can be submitted online, but not all of them.
You may be told that you will
be sent a rebate form by the store, a customer service department or by the
company that handles their rebates. The rebate form may not be included with
the item that is purchased when it is shipped, mailed or otherwise sent to you.
If there is no rebate form or
there is no available rebate form online, this can be an frustrating situation
for you. In this kind of a scenario, it may be possible for you to submit the
necessary information another way, for example, by putting it on a piece of
paper or a postcard. Check with the rebate processing company for their
guidelines.
The store may offer to fill out
or to submit the rebate form for you. In this kind of a situation, you do not
have to do anything. A problem can arise though, if the store promises to
submit the rebate, but then the submission is not made or is not received by
the rebate processing company.
Find out before making the
purchase, if there is a rebate form that must be submitted by you and how you
are expected to obtain one. Ask the store sales person if they are doing the
rebate form submission for you or see if they can help you to fill out the
rebate form if you find this too difficult or complex to handle by yourself.
Many stores will do this as a courtesy and all you need to do is to mail it in.
Note that rebates can be
declined, because there is no rebate form included in the submission or the one
that is sent is not an appropriate rebate form.
As a customer, you may be asked
to re-submit your rebate form, if the one you sent in is not received by the rebate
company or if it is not the one that they are looking for.
The second requirement will be
some kind of a receipt or something that provides proof of purchase by you as
the customer, for the item in question.
This may be a store receipt.
What is a store receipt? If you were to go to a store and purchase something,
like a jug of milk, you would obtain a receipt from the clerk at the cash
register, to show that you are the one who made the purchase.
Do not throw your receipts
away. They may prove to be your only proof of purchase.
Receipts can take other forms,
as well. If the item you have purchased has been obtained with a credit card, a
statement that includes the purchase, may not be accepted by the company that
is paying out the rebate money.
It may be frustrating for you
to become aware that unless you can provide an actual receipt as proof of
purchase, you may not be able to obtain the rebate money. A debit card
statement may not be deemed to be acceptable, as a receipt.
There are times when including
a packing slip from a shipping company, may be appropriate. Using a service
agreement may be allowed, as a receipt. An order confirmation of some kind may
be used, at times and not at other times.
One important thing to be aware
of is what kind of a receipt is expected by the company paying out the
rebates.
Try to provide the kind of receipt that they want initially, in order to save a
lot of frustration, at a later date.
Ask your store or other place
of purchase, "What kind of proof of purchase do I need, in order to obtain
my rebate?"
The third requirement will
probably be the label from the packaging that the item was received in by you,
as the customer.
This can confuse and confound
many people, if you do not realize that the label from the packaging,
particularly one that has a lot of bar codes, contains information that is
essential for the processing of the rebate.
Pertinent information is
encoded into bar codes, so do not discard package labels with barcodes.
If the box or packaging that
the item was received in has been thrown out by you, or by the store, it may
not be possible for you to obtain the rebate payment. This depends upon the
requirements of the company doing the rebate processing.
Never throw away the box or
packaging that you receive your purchase in, as it may still have important
information that is required in order to have your rebate processed.
The label on the package may be
referred to as an activation sticker or it might be called a upc. The rebate
processing company may request the original label, so in that case, just cut it
off the box and send it with the other rebate requirements. Sometimes a copy of
the label or upc is acceptable, but not always.
Do not staple or tape your
label to your rebate form and receipt, as it may have to be set aside in
processing, in order to remove the staples or the tape. Most rebate submissions
are scanned in or photocopied, when they are received.
It is important to keep copies
of all the information you submit. Even with all of our modern day technology,
there is no guarantee that when you put something in the mail, that it will
reach its destination. Certified mail is advisable, particularly if you are
aware that there is the possibility of a problem with the mail in your area.
If you are in doubt about the
basic requirements of your rebate, how to submit or mail in the rebate or where
to mail it to, contact your place of purchase. Find out who the company is that
is handling the rebate and if necessary, contact them directly by telephone or
by e-mail.
These suggestions can make your
rebating experience into one that proves to be a worthwhile venture, rather
than an exercise in futility. Happy rebating.